The Big Bang: Friend or Foe?

Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Today science says, "In the beginning, bang, there was the whole universe." Is the big bang theory a friend or foe of Christianity? Do the Bible and science conflict on the most fundamental issue of all - the beginning of all things? These are reasonable questions - some of you may be asking yourself or are being asked by someone else.

Today the vast majority of scientists recognize, some reluctantly, that universe began to exist a finite time ago. Prior to the 1920s science could deny the need for a creator or banger by appealing to an infinitely old universe. The universe, they said, was eternal: it had never not been! Why is it that scientifically this theory cannot be maintained any longer?

It's interesting that often times that scientists' explanation of the earth's origin's sound similar to the Bible. As scientist Robert Jastrow, puts it: "What is the ultimate solution to the origin of the universe? The answers provided by the astronomers are disconcerting and remarkable. Most remarkable of all is the fact that in science, as in the Bible, the world begins with an act of creation."

Philosopher William Lane Craig summed it up in this way: "Isn't it incredible that the big bang theory thus fits in with what the Christian theist has always believed; that in the beginning God created the universe? Now I put it to you, which makes more sense? That the theist is right or that the universe popped into being uncaused, out of nothing? I, at least, have no trouble assessing these alternatives!"

The big bang theory, rather than doing away with a creator, has served to demonstrate that it's scientifically and philosophically more intelligent to believe that God created the universe a finite time ago - just as the Bible has always taught. The big bang is a friend of Christianity, not a foe.

Question to Consider: How has your understanding of the big bang theory given you more confidence in the Bible's teaching that God created the universe.